Word Origin & History

scourge early 13c., from Anglo-Fr. escorge, back-formation from O.Fr. escorgier "to whip," from V.L. *excorrigiare, from L. ex- "out, off" + corrigia "thong, shoelace," in this case "whip," probably from a Gaulish word related to O.Ir. cuimrech "fetter." The verb is attested from early 13c. Scourge of God, title given by later generations to Attila the Hun (406453 C.E.), is attested from late 14c., from L. flagellum Dei.

Example Sentences for scourge

Velvet art gets a pretty bad rap, but what is the scourge of the art world actually has a fairly long history.

Sickness is different in this respect: few of us will escape it, especially during the scourge of old age.

But it isn't the scourge that the press has made it out to be.

In the time of a great drought, he exhorted the people to penance, to avert this scourge of heaven.

So abandoned to iniquity were some persons, that this scourge itself was not able to reclaim them.

Until lately this scourge carried off from one-sixth to one-tenth of a ship's crew on a long voyage.

After that opium addiction went from being a rare ostentation of nobles to a scourge that affected one in six of the population.

Three years ago the company was considered a parasite and a scourge.

Deadly bacteria are the scourge of emergency rooms, in part because there are not enough varieties of antibiotics to fight them.